Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth about $7,633,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 18.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,673 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 218.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,434 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,524 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 4.2 %

AMGN opened at $283.61 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $260.52 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $5.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.11 by $0.47. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 115.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Amgen from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $320.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $362.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.57.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.